Adams defaulted on two mortgages in 2009, saying he had been overwhelmed by the attorney’s fees, for his personal home and a rental next door. In August, Adams defaulted on a third mortgage on a rental triplex when he failed to make a payment for four months. His lender withdrew the default six days later saying Adams had resolved his debt.

When asked about it earlier this week by The Oregonian, Adams declined to explain what caused the default. But in an interview Wednesday, Adams told KGW-TV he doesn’t come from a wealthy family and faced “unexpected, very large bills and there are deadlines for those bills and my situation pales in comparison to folks that are out of work.”

He went on to compare his financial problems with other Portlanders who are unemployed in the recession. “The fact that I struggle with big unexpected bills is like a lot of other Portlanders. You do the best you can to juggle. There are issues of cash flow and deadlines for payments, Like a lot of Portland families, I do the best I can.”